Gold Fields says it will not rule out toll treatment arrangements for its 2 million-tonne Granny Smith processing plant near Laverton, which is underutilised.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie today, the Johannesburg-based global boss of the South African miner, Nick Holland, said the plant was operating at under half its nameplate capacity.

“We’re looking at testing some near-term sources of additional feed at some old pits at Lake Carey but it will be at least a year before we can bring them online,” he said.

“We wouldn’t rule out toll treatment arrangements depending on the terms but there’s a fair bit of processing capacity in the area and having an underutilised plant is not a drag on us.”

Addressing the recent sale of its Darlot mine to Red 5 for $18.5 million in cash and shares, Mr Holland said the company had made a strategic call to get out of the asset and focus on the development of the Gruyere joint venture project with Gold Road Resources as well as brownfield exploration around its existing mines.

However, he said Gold Fields was happy to take an equity stake in Red 5 as part of the sale agreement, back the management team and go for a ride.

Mr Holland noted the company’s 50 per cent share of production from the 3.5moz Gruyere project would be more than double that of Darlot, with lower costs and longer life (13 years plus).

The miner, which produces 942,000 ounces across its WA mines representing 43 per cent of its global production, late last year paid $350 million to take a 50 per cent stake in Gold Road Resources’ Gruyere project and take over operatorship.

The $532 million project north east of Laverton, which is currently under construction, is expected to produce 270,000ozpa at all-in sustaining costs of $945/oz when it comes into production in late 2018 or early 2019.

Mr Holland said the company was happy with its position at Gruyere and was not necessarily looking to expand its footprint in the broader Yamarna belt.

While the company was “opportunistic” when it came to acquisition opportunities, it was happy with its existing portfolio and focused on brownfields exploration, on which it will spend $100 million this financial year, representing a third of Australia’s total exploration spend.

“We’ve built our Australian portfolio up from nothing since the initial acquisition of St Ives and Agnew in 2002,” he said.

“We’re making good money from the region and we’re here for the long run. We think Australia is a good place to be.”